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I was born in 1837 in Scotland. As a child, I developed an early interest in words and language and became a voracious reader. From my interest in language, I learned to read and speak fluently in several languages. I wrote a scholarly work on Scottish dialects published in 1873. Despite my background, I was turned down as Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum, so I turned to grammar school teaching. In 1878, I was approached about a job as primary editor of a voluminous standard reference work, a position I held until my death in 1915. What is my name and the name of the reference work?
P.S. For extra kudos, give the name of the "madman" (actually an American surgeon confined to a British asylum) who contributed to this scholarly work.
You are James Murray born 1837, died 1915. You wrote an article for the Encylopedia Britannica and later became editer of the New English Dictionary (Oxford to be specific). You were able to complete only 1/2 of the Dictionary before your passing in 1915.
Last edited by Steve Bagu; 09-26-2008 at 05:20 PM..
Reason: wrong date, typo
There is a fascinating book written by Murray's granddaughter called "Caught in the Web of Words." The name of the "madman" was Dr. William Chester Minor. The story goes that a mysterious correspondent (Dr. Minor) contributed so much to the Oxford English Dictionary that Murray's curiosity was piqued, so he looked up the address and was astonished to find that Dr. Minor was a resident in an asylum. An author by the name of Winchester wrote "The Professor and the Madman," detailing the story of Dr. Minor.
I was a former President of the U.S. I never did like my birth initials, so on my way to West Point decided to make a change. On arriving at the Point discovered that they had enrolled me differently and eventially decided to keep my name change given me by the Army. "Who am I"?
Yes, originally "HUG" Hiram Ulysses Grant was changed to Ulysses Hiram Grant. The Point had him registered as Ulysses S. Grant and decided to keep the name change. Good work, Steve
I was a queen and also a commander of five ships in Xerxes' fleet at the battle of Salamis. I warned Xerxes not to engage the Greeks, who were far more experienced in naval warfare. I and my ships were among the fortunate few to escape the disaster at Salamis. Who am I?
Apparently, Xerxes watched the destruction of his navy while seated on a hill overlooking the battle scene. Much of the sea warfare of the time was accomplished by ramming other ships. From his vantage point, Xerxes would have seen seasoned Greek sailors swimming from their broken ships to shore, while most of the land-based Persians, unable to swim, perished at sea. Artemisia must have been a remarkable and determined woman to have escaped from such a naval disaster.
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